Only a small handful of people in the world have sat at the negotiating table with the North Koreans and extensively interacted with them. Yet, this knowledge is fragmented and has not been collected or analyzed in a systematic manner. We’ll be previewing our upcoming “Negotiating with North Korea: Negotiators’ Genesis Story” study at this event.

The Belfer Center acknowledges the generous support of the Charles Koch Foundation for this project examining senior negotiators’ main lessons learned in negotiating with North Korea.

RSVPs for this event have CLOSED.

Join the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs for its Fall 2023 discussion series—Africa in Focus: Reframing U.S.-Africa Policy.

Following the announcement of a new U.S. Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa in August 2022, and a second U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022, the goal of this discussion series is to take stock of U.S.-African relations to date, including unpacking key components of the U.S. strategy, and understanding African perspectives on the current and future trajectory of U.S. engagement on the continent.

Join the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs for its Fall 2023 discussion series -- Africa in Focus: Reframing U.S.-Africa Policy.  Following the announcement of a new US Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa in August 2022, and a second US-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022, the goal of this discussion series is to take stock of US-African relations to date, including unpacking key components of the US strategy, and understanding African perspectives on the current and future trajectory of US engagement on the continent.

This session will feature Chidi Blyden, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). Before joining MCC, Ms. Blyden served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs, where she managed the Department of Defense's (DOD) relationships with 53 African nations. She has held various roles, honing her policy, national security, and practitioner skilled throughout her career in the government, academia, and non-profit sectors.

Registration: This event is in-person. RSVP required.
Speaker: Chidi Blyden, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
Moderator: Natalie Colbert, Executive Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Refreshments will be provided.

Speaker Bio:
Chidi Blyden is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). As Deputy CEO, Ms. Blyden supports the CEO in the daily management of the agency and delivering on MCC’s mission to reduce global poverty through economic growth.

Before joining MCC, Ms. Blyden served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs, where she managed the Department of Defense’s (DOD) relationships with 53 African nations. She has held various roles, honing her policy, national security, and practitioner skills throughout her career in the government, academia, and non-profit sectors. Ms. Blyden is an expert and socio-cultural advisor on Africa’s conflicts, security, and development issues. Her work has focused on the impact of culture in developing policy and community-centric approaches to security challenges in African nations. She was the first Africa Director at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, where she led the design and implementation of culture-specific training for the Nigerian Armed Forces on civilian harm.

Ms. Blyden has over 15 years of government service and served in the Obama Administration as a Special Assistant in DOD’s Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy – African Affairs and as the Africa Peacekeeping Advisor in DOD’s Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy – Stability and Humanitarian Affairs. She served as a Professional Staff Member in Congress on the House Armed Services Committee, advising on Africa and South America’s defense equities. She is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in the Security Studies Program and is an alumnus of Texas A&M University and the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University.

Ms. Blyden is affiliated with the Leadership Council for Women in National Security and the Truman National Security Project and serves on the Leadership Council for Memunatu Magazine, a nonprofit that promotes literacy and leadership for teen girls in Africa and the diaspora.

Join the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs for its Fall 2023 discussion series -- Africa in Focus: Reframing U.S.-Africa Policy.  Following the announcement of a new US Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa in August 2022, and a second US-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022, the goal of this discussion series is to take stock of US-African relations to date, including unpacking key components of the US strategy, and understanding African perspectives on the current and future trajectory of US engagement on the continent.

This session will feature Judd Devermont, the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC). He most recently served as the special advisor for Africa strategy at the NSC from 2021-2022. Prior to the NSC, he served as the director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and as the National Intelligence Officer for Africa, leading the U.S. intelligence community’s analytic efforts on sub-Saharan Africa.

Registration: This event is in-person for attendees.  Guest will be virtual. RSVP required.
Speaker: Judd Devermont, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC)
Moderator: Natalie Colbert, Executive Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Lunch will be provided.

Speaker Bio:

Judd Devermont is the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC). He most recently served as the special advisor for Africa strategy at the NSC from 2021-2022. Prior to the NSC he served as the director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) from 2018 to 2021. Mr. Devermont previously was national intelligence officer for Africa from 2015-2018. In this position, he led the U.S. intelligence community’s analytic efforts on sub-Saharan African issues and served as the DNI’s personal representative at interagency policy meetings. Mr. Devermont also was the Central Intelligence Agency’s senior political analyst on sub-Saharan Africa from 2013-2015. Prior to this role, he served as the National Security Council director for Somalia, Nigeria, the Sahel, and the African Union from 2011 to 2013. In this position, he contributed to the U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa, signed by President Obama in 2012, and managed the process that resulted in U.S. recognition of the Somali government for the first time since 1991. Mr. Devermont spent two years abroad working at the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria from 2008 to 2010.

Mr. Devermont has lived in South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire, and he has traveled widely across the continent. He has a master’s degree in African studies from Yale University and bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Please join the Harvard Kennedy School Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship for a seminar with Édouard Philippe, former Prime Minister of France, to discuss France's role in the world and Europe's current security landscape. France still aims to recover its « grandeur », regularly examining its role and influence. It's looking to find its place within the EU and questions the EU's ability to be a real power on the international scene. How can France and the EU defend their role in a broken and imbalanced world divided into spheres of influence? From China to Turkey, authoritarian regimes have grown, asserting their way to build stability and sometimes to achieve prosperity, threatening multilateralism. How can transatlantic relationship remain a strong pillar of global security? 

This conversation will be co-moderated by Natalie Colbert, Executive Director of the Belfer Center, and Svenja Kirsch, Fellow with the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship.

Please note: In person registration is now at capacity. Virtual registration is still open.

Join the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs in a workshop series in Spring 2023, Africa in Focus: African Agency in International Climate Policy and Energy Geopolitics. This series centers African voices in discussing the causes, consequences, and policy solutions for global climate change. 

This event will examine the challenges and opportunities for African states, and the continent at large, in securing and deploying finance to tackle climate change.

Registration:

This event is virtual and open to the public. RSVP is required. 

Speakers:

Chavi Meattle, Senior Analyst, Climate Policy Initiative

Muthoni Nduhiu, Climate Finance Specialist (East Africa), African Development Bank 

Daouda Sembene, CEO Africatalyst; fmr.  Director, IMF Executive Board

Moderator:

Natalie Colbert, Executive Director, Belfer Center 

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A recording of the session is available here. 

Please join the Intelligence Project for a discussion on the history of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the U.S. intelligence community (IC). This session will discuss the findings of a forthcoming paper on the history of publicly known IC initiatives, studies, and policies alongside observations from current and former intelligence officials, academics, and senior military officers. In over seven decades of study after study, the U.S. Intelligence Community has identified a lack of diversity in the workforce as a problem. Beginning with a 1953 CIA report on women in the Agency, tellingly titled “The Petticoat Panel,” agencies have documented a lack of presence and opportunity for women, minorities, and other groups including people with disabilities. The paper reviews efforts of what has been done, what has succeeded, and what has failed. Together we will unpack why progress has been slow and underscore lessons from the past that can inform future approaches to reinforce America’s intelligence posture and meet challenging requirements.

The session will feature a discussion with Intelligence Project Fellow Jeff Fields from the FBI, and with experienced former intelligence officials Natalie Colbert, Belfer Center Executive Director; Kristin Wood, Intelligence Project Fellow, and Lori Roule, senior executive at Transparent Language.
It will be moderated by the report's authors: Dr. Michael Miner, Associate Fellow with the Intelligence Project, and Lindsay Temes, former military officer with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

This virtual event is open to the public and registration is required.

How should intelligence communities maintain their analytic objectivity within societies that are increasingly politically polarized? What role can academia and the private sector play in developing and sharing best practices? What strategies can intelligence agencies adopt to ensure objectivity for an uncertain future?

Analytic Objectivity and Avoiding Politicization in Intelligence: Perspectives from the U.S., Five Eyes, and the Private Sector is a one-day virtual conference hosted by the Intelligence Project. Experts will discuss how the U.S. and Five Eyes intelligence communities can work with and learn from academia and business to safeguard the objectivity of intelligence products and ensure quality and accountability.
 
Participation is for the Harvard community and by invitation. The conference will take place on Microsoft Teams and registration is required. Please register at http://evite.me/r8zhKdNH7H. For more details, contact Recanati-Kaplan Fellow Barry Zulauf at barryzulauf@hks.harvard.edu.